August 31, 2005
Mount Whitney Trip Posted (finally)
I finally posted my trip page from the Mount Whitney trip here. I'm finally catching up.
New Orleans FUBAR
If you are still on New Orleans you are probably not having much fun right now. I catch up on the news periodicially throughout the day and it seems like every time I check the news gets worse and worse. Now they are evacuating people from the Superdome and the authorities do not know when they will have the levee system fixed. I really hope people are able to get out of there in one piece. I also wonder at what point the government (local, state, national) will decide that it is easier and more cost effective to cut people a check for the fair value of their property and tell them to relocate. If storms are supposed to get worse and worse (as global warming experts predict), and water levels around the world are going to rise, then New Orleans and other places on the coast may become a lost cause at some point.
50 Coolest Websites
Time recently published an article about the 50 coolest websites. You can check out the article here. I haven't had time to check it out in detail yet, but that just means I have to delegate more of my work. :-) Just kidding, of course...
August 29, 2005
Dig Dug
Over the weekend Timber and I helped her parents dig a 3 x 1 x 2 foot hole in the back yard in preparation for them getting central heating and air conditioning. The challenge was how to dig 2 feet down. Their back yard is hard packed dirt and clay. The key to getting two feet down was to dig until you hit the dry, hard clay and then pour water in and let it soak for 20 to 30 minutes before digging again. Then repeat the process as necessary. The cool thing was that it gave me a chance to finish my DCNYC trip page. You can check it out here.
August 25, 2005
No Mercy Baby
Timber's softball season is finally over. Her team (Just Win Baby) played a doubleheader yesterday. Their first game was a semifinals game in the playoffs. They won that game roughly 26-1 although I lost count of the runs so I don't know the exact score. Then the next game was the finals and the one I've been looking forward to all season. It was the #1 ranked team against the #2 ranked team, and I thought they were going to be tested for the first time. The final score was her team winning 24-3. They got a trophy and t-shirts for being champions of the company softball league. I hope they break up the team for next year because watching beating after beating just isn't very entertaining. At least they don't rub it in when they throttle other teams, but it does make you wonder about their sportsmanship.
August 24, 2005
Stop Hitting the Pipe Robertson
Hey Pat Robertson, stop hitting the pipe. Who cares what Hugo Chavez is saying and doing? You are making something out of nothing. Because of you, his approval ratings are going higher and higher.
Lee's Sandwich Hell
I went to Lee's Sandwich on Monterey last night and it was a terrible experience. I ordered a bbq pork sandwich on baguette and an avocado shake. When I ordered the shake the guy taking my order asked about the shake again. When he did that I stated "Avocado" slowly and clearly for him. They were not busy by the way. A few minutes later he handed me my sandwich and I asked if they were making the shake. He gave me a puzzled look, so I showed him my receipt and he saw that I had ordered an avocado shake. Then he went took the receipt from me and showed it to another person that was working there. Then they started making shakes because there was a person in front of me waiting for several shakes. After the blending had been done, he told me my shake was ready. He was about to hand me a strawberry shake when I told him that I had ordered AVOCADO. He then asked to look at my receipt again and the person next to him showed him the receipt that I had still not gotten back. Another puzzled look crossed his face and we went into the back. He came out a few minutes later with an Avocado, but he apparently didn't see about 20 avocados that were sitting next to the shake machine. He finally went away and had the other person make the shakes. After waiting a while longer I finally got my avocado shake. The whole process must have taken 30 minutes and I was extremely unhappy about it. I can only hope that the guy helping me was either new or the son of the owner. But my guess is that if I ever do go back to Lee's Sandwiches he will not be there.
August 23, 2005
Bogie Goes To Fairbanks
A while back I posted a blog entry about Bogie the one eyed owl needing a ride to Fairbanks, Alaska. I heard yesterday that Bogie is going to get a ride to Fairbanks. You can see the updates here and here. So that means that I don't have to go to Fairbanks. Yay, Fairbanks isn't that exciting of a place anyway.
Trip To The Hospital
Over the weekend we were supposed to go do some gold prospecting but our plans changed when Timber's dad got injured and required a trip to the hospital and some x-rays. He ended up breaking a bone in his hand and in his foot. Hopefully it won't take him long to recover.
August 18, 2005
Acid Spill Near Home
I heard via email, the web, and loudspeaker at work that there was an acid spill nearby earlier today. It looks like it has finally been cleaned up, but I'm obviously watching this closely because this is near where I live.
August 17, 2005
Leki Super Makalu
I while back I had picked up some Leki Super Makalu poles for long hikes. I found going downhill over long distances caused my knees a lot of pain and that poles could help offset that a bit. The first real test for my new poles was the 22 mile dayhike hell otherwise known as Mount Whitney (still not done with the trip page). On the way down I must have put a lot of force on my poles because one of them broke. I was royally pissed because I still had a good 10 miles of downhill left to hike. At any rate the shaft has a lifetime warranty, so I contacted Leki and they sent me a new shaft which arrived today. So thanks Leki for having good customer service. The jury is still out on the poles, but I think they will end up performing just fine, at least I hope they do.
August 16, 2005
Fishing During The Lunch Hour
My brother sent me this photo along with another one of silver salmon. He caught both fish on his lunch break at work. He lives in Anchorage and works downtown which means that he is within walking distance of Ship Creek. We have a lot of cool things that make California a great place to live, but I have to admit, California can't touch that. Nice fish bro.
Melting Pot
Jenny wanted to try a new fondue place for her birthday, so we went to the Melting Pot in downtown San Jose. We ended up getting one of the package deals where pretty much everything is set for us, and it turned out to be a good choice. The cheese fondue was pretty good, as was the salad. And the fondue for the various types of meat that we had (lobster, shrimp, pork loin, chicken, and filet miniot) and various types of vegetables was also good. The best part, however, was the chocolate fondue. We got two types, milk chocolate with Bailey's and dark chocolate with Amaretto. I think I am going to have to eat a lot of salad this week to make up for that meal. I also posted the photos from our dinner here.
Vampire Hippies Of Humbodlt County
We did a lot of stuff with my parents over the weekend. We started Saturday by taking a walking tour of the historic part of Eureka. Along the way we checked out the Carson Mansion and other Victorian houses, shops, and hippies. Then we worked out way along the waterfront, and somewhere along the way we heard about a farmers market in Arcata. So we drove over to downtown Arcata to check out all the organic produce, awesome crepes, still more hippies, and a guy juggling flaming knives. The funny thing is the guy poured what looked like lighting fluid into a small plastic wading pool and stood in it while juggling the knives, but I think it was really water. After the farmers market we went to check out the Manilla and Samoa Dunes (don't ask me why they are named that). Then we went on to check out some redwoods. We checked out a drive through tree, which you really can drive through but is a total tourist trap and then we checked out Founder's Grove. Founders Grove was really nice because it was shaded and had a nice breeze blowing through it. After that we headed to the County Fair in Ferdale. A lot of people were leaving by the time we got there but that did not deter us. We got into the fair, checked out the food, cows, chickens, and goats. We even had time to get into a discussion with a woman milking a goat about the wonders of goat milk. I think I'll actually give it a try. We ate a lot of food but did not find the deep fried twinkie that we were looking for. On Sunday we checked out the Sequoia Park Zoo which was actually really nice. After that we had to head back home and my parents headed off to their next destination. I really enjoyed the time I spent with them and look forward to seeing them again in September.
August 12, 2005
Eureka!
We made it to Eureka in what felt like 12 hours. It took us a while to get out of the Bay Area because of the traffic. Once we got here we met up with my parents and had dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse. We had fresh bread, split pea soup, 3-bean salad, salad, baked potato, roast beef, chicken, peas, iced tea, and apple pie. When we looked at the specials (roast beef and chicken) when we first came in I thought those were the specials and that they would bring menus. I was wrong. Those are the only things you can eat. If you don't want that kind of stuff for dinner then you came to the wrong place. But the food was good and there was a lot of it. I wouldn't mind trying this place for breakfast sometime. Tomorrow we are going to find out of this is a town worth spending time in.
August 10, 2005
4 Day Work Week
Tomorrow is my last day at work for the week. Woohoo! Timber and I are heading up to Eureka for the weekend to see my parents who are down in the lower 48 on vacation.
There Is No Going Back
I was emailed a link to this presentation at work today. I think it is slightly cheesy, but I say let the people decide. Even though it was high in cheese value it does serve as a good reminder that one should not waste time on useless things such as reading blogs. :-)
August 08, 2005
BlueGene
What would you do if you have the 21st most powerful supercomputer in the world at your fingertips? An excellent question worthy of deep pondering and consideration. Should you map the human genome? Done already. Should you simulate pandemics? Done already. Should you use it to simulate various fishing conditions and try out different flies to see which are most effective in various situations? They won't let me do that. :-)
Poor Man's Pebble Beach
It was an action packed weekend filled with lots of errands, donating blood, two movies (Wedding Crashers, Mr. & Mrs. Smith), and golf at Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course. This golf course is commonly referred to as the "Poor man's Pebble Beach". It gets that reputation by having it's back 9 near the ocean. On the back 9 the wind is going to mess with your ball and the sand dunes make a natural sand trap. Our game yesterday seemed to have taken place in an air conditioned room. It was very nice. I definitely recommend giving it a shot. I'll try to post the photos later today.
August 05, 2005
Extreme Blue
I got to attend a presentation and several demos for the Extreme Blue students here at the Almaden Research Center yesterday and I have to say that I was impressed. I don’t know if I can mention specifics about the projects, so I won’t risk it, but some of them were flippin’ cool. I really hope we find a way to get them out to market soon, because if we do, they are going to kick some serious ass.
August 01, 2005
WebFountain In Newsweek
Here is an article that I just found about WebFountain in Newsweek. So I wonder if I am part of generation X or generation Y since I'm right on the cusp according to this article. Also, I like this quote from Dan Gruhl, "If you know where to look, it's easy to find things," says IBM's Dan Gruhl. "But we can look everywhere." It sounds to me like these quotes were taken out of context.
News On 24
This article has a little tidbit about the upcoming season of 24. If you haven't heard of 24 by now there is probably no hope for you.